Elastic shaft couplings for connecting a drive unit with a driven unit are of course known. The generally annular shaft coupling may be subdivided into segments and each of the segments can include a plate segment forming part of one of the two coupling halves and the plate segments can be connected together by an elastic material which may be bonded to the axial surfaces of the plate segments by vulcanization thereto. The term “axial surfaces” is here used to refer to the surfaces of the segments which face in the axial direction.
Segmented shaft couplings are available in a variety of configurations and these include the shaft couplings of German Patent Document DE 36 16 232 A1 (see especially the ring arrangement 3 thereof) and the segmented coupling of German Patent Document DE 34 34 722 A1.
Segmentation of the coupling enables the coupling to be made from smaller components and can be used whenever one piece coupling half plates or elastomeric members cannot be fabricated in an economical manner or where one piece couplings cannot be mounted in an economical or convenient manner. They are also of advantage wherever replacement of the components are necessary and have been found to be useful wherever the machine parts connected by the shaft coupling cannot be moved apart to enable replacement.
In the past it has been necessary to fabricate the metal segment plates from relatively expensive cast steel in the same manner as flanges were formed. Furthermore, it has been required or desirable to support the coupling at a bearing at a hub, usually via a lateral ring to stabilize the segments during rotation of the coupling against the centrifugal forces which tend to develop in them. Both of these approaches are expensive and hence prior shaft couplings of such types (see especially DE 36 16 232 A1 for such stabilization) have not been considered cost effective in many applications.